Lost in Oblivion
by LamaeBeolfag
Summary: When a duel at Stonehenge goes wrong, young Minerva is torn from her world. Lost in Tamriel, Minerva must trust a stranger with her life and her return home. Minerva learns about her savior and about herself. F/F Femmeslash
1. Chapter 1

The night air was cold and crisp. They had been waiting for hours, watching the small, lifeless cabin. According to the Order, this is where Thomas Markley was hiding. Thomas Markley was the last of the devout followers of Grindlewald to be brought to justice. He had been in hiding for over 23 years and had conducted sporadic attacks on Muggles and Muggle-borns since the end of the War. Minerva McGonagall had been selected by the Order to be part of the team that would finally bring Markley to justice. Minerva was a brilliant witch, being the brightest of her age. She was 33 at the time and at the height of her career at the Ministry in the department of Magical Law Enforcement. A proud woman, she was tall and thin with stern features. Her emerald green eyes pierced the dark night as a cold mist settled upon her pale face. Ebony hair framed her face, softening the harshness of her cheekbones. Many nights without rest had left her exhausted, as betrayed by the dark circles under her eyes. Square framed glasses rested upon her thin nose, a crack left in one of the lenses from a stray spell nearly a fortnight ago. Minerva was crouched next to her 5 comrades, waiting for anything to break the tension that had settled upon the air.

If not for her enhanced senses lent to her by her animagus, Minerva would have missed the muffled sound of a chair scraping across wooden planks. That sound was the only indication of life within the dreary cabin. Slowly, Minerva lifted her thin hand to signal to the others that there was indeed someone within. As one they moved forward, careful to silence their footsteps and hide their positions. One of Minerva's comrades, Harold McKinley was at the very lead of the ambush when he halted movement. The air in front of the group shimmered. Clearly a ward. If they were to pass through the ward would alert the occupant to the intruders.

Harold looked at the group and in a shushed voice stated, "there's a ward surrounding the cabin, Minerva I want you to see if you can break through, from how weak it is I believe that it won't sense you in your animagus form, once through see if you can take it down."

With a curt nod Minerva did as instructed. The transformation was swift, in a mere moment a speckled tabby with square markings around her eyes was standing before the group. The tabby approached the ward hesitantly before jumping through. One beyond the barrier, Minerva returned to her human form. She raised her wand and began reciting incantations. The team watched as the ward began to dissolve. Harold was the first to step through. With a curt nod from Harold the rest of the group followed. They passed up the worn path to the door of the cabin when suddenly the door to the cabin blew outwards. Wood splinters flew everywhere. Minerva reacted in an instant, throwing stinging hexes through the gaping hole in the front of the cabin, praying that one would meet its target.

A barrage of spells began to fly out of the cabin and towards the group. A well timed protegeo charm from Harold protected Minerva from a stray curse that found her position. Minerva glanced up towards the cabin to see a wizard standing within. He was dressed in tattered black robes. He had a short grey beard and a bald head. He was extremely muscular, obviously from years of discipline and hiding in the elements. The most noticeable feature was his hollow face. There was a deep scar across the left side of his face crossing where an eye should have been, but instead there was an empty socket staring back at her. The other eye was completely black; the color and life having obviously been taken away from many years of dark magic.

In an instant Thomas began to throw cruciatus curses at the group. Minerva summoned her courage and broke through the protegeo charm that was still shielding her and began to throw a barrage of hexes at the offending man. For every curse her hurled at her, she hurled two more at him. Minerva kept analyzing his movements and his timings. He was repetitive in his spellwork, always pausing for a moment after he cast a stunner before trying one of the unforgivables, the following with some simple disarming charms. His grasp and knowledge on magic was basic, only being fueled by anger, no forethought being put into his spells. Minerva decided to catch him off guard. In a series of flicks of her wand, Minerva had transfigured the steps he was standing on into sinking sand. Before the man realized what had happened Minerva struck him with another stunner as his feet sank into the hungry ground.

The man fell to his knees as the rest of the group closed in on him. Minerva had leveled her wand to his face, ready to put him into a body bind and be over with this night. As the first words began to roll off of Minerva's tongue the sharp crack of apparition flooded the air and Thomas was gone.

"Shite," was all that was heard from Harold as Minerva broke protocol and reached out her magic and felt the trails of Thomas's apparition from mere moments before. Once Harold realized what Minerva was doing it was too late, she vanished into the cold night air.


	2. Chapter 2

Minerva landed with an ungraceful thud in a particularly soft pile of grass

'At least I have a soft landing going for me on this damned night' she thought sarcastically.

She looked up to see the hulking form of Thomas standing before her.

"Stand up, I want to be able to see your eyes as I kill you," sneered Thomas. "I knew that the Ministry would find me eventually, so I had a little plan of my own, you see. Do you realize where we are witch?"

Minerva looked around, time seemed to slow as the realization of where she was sank in. They were at Stonehenge. An ancient magical site, it was humming with power. Tendrils of ancient magic were licking at her skin, sending a shiver down her spine. She realized why the magic was so alive in this normally dormant site, today was the winter solstice. The day when the line between this world and others was nearly nonexistent. The pagans worshiped this site for a reason, on the solstices they could conjure particularly powerful magic and communicate with ethereal beings. Minerva's ragged breaths hitched as she realized that she didn't stand a chance, not being alone and injured from the previous fight of the night.

"Crucio!" Yelled Thomas, with all the venom and hate he could muster.

Minerva felt as her world was alight with pain. There was not thought but pain. The burning pressure between her eyes drove her mind into a panic. She was trying to remember her training, how to stop the torture. 'Snap!' Minerva felt as her spine began to fracture and break under the force of the spell. She lost feeling in her legs as the pain in the rest of her body continued to build. She felt as her ribs began to crack, each breath coming with more and more difficulty. It was beginning to be difficult to remain conscious. The world before her was darkening. 'I'm going to die,' was the only coherent thought that Minerva could put together. Suddenly the air around them lit up. Primal magics were surrounding the pair. Minerva felt the pain reduce significantly as she watched magic tendrils begin to encompass her. The feeling was foreign, like she was being crushed and stretched, but without pain. On the other hand, Thomas was suddenly engulfed in flames, his screams were echoing across the desolate landscape. Minerva turned to see a bright glow emanating from the center of Stonehenge. Of its own accord, the magic was drawing Minerva towards the glow. It appeared as if it were a portal. The edges of the glow were distorted. The mysterious magic continued to draw her to the bright glow. And in a great flash of light, Minerva McGonagall was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

When Minerva awoke the first thing she registered was that she was in a great deal of pain. Her back felt as if it were broken and her headache threatened to split her head in two. Thanks to her animagus traits, she was able to sense that she was not alone, the faint sounds of someone mixing potions to her left flooded her senses. The air was damp and there was a faint chill to it despite the warmth of a stoked fire to her right. She felt that she was laying on a bed under some heavy blankets. When she opened her eyes she saw that the room she was in was spacious and elaborately decorated in a deep crimson with silver accents. There were bookshelves adorning the wall directly in front of her, while to her right where the fire was burning there were swords and strange armors bordering the fireplace. When Minerva looked to her left to see some form of a potions lab. There was a figure bent over the table focusing on the mortar and pestle in their hands. Minerva felt her breath hitch when she saw that her wand was sitting at the same table as the stranger. She never felt more exposed, with no way to defend herself if this stranger had malicious intentions.

"You're awake."

The most beautiful voice washed over Minerva's ears. It was a woman's voice but it bordered on angelic. Minerva could feel the power imbued in even those simple words. The woman put down the mortar and pestle before reaching for a red vial. When she turned to face Minerva, Minerva felt her heart falter. The woman was gorgeous. She was tall with an athletic build. She looked no more than 30. Her hair was jet black and pulled back into a complex braid that went nearly to her waist. A few stray strands of hair framed a fierce face. Her skin was the fairest that Minerva had ever seen. She had high cheekbones and a stern jaw. Her eyes were a brilliant blue with a depth that Minerva had nerve before seen in another person. The most noticeable feature was a trio of scars going down her right cheek and down her neck, ending at her collarbone. The scars looked as if they were the result of the claws of some unknown creature. She wore black robes with red accents and gold stitching. The woman was regal and powerful.

The woman took a few steps and came to the edge of Minerva's bed. "Here, take this potion," she said as she outstretched the hand with the vial. Minerva hesitated, not knowing what the stranger was handing her.

As if she could read Minerva's thoughts, the stranger stated, "it's a healing potion with a mild pain draught." She paused for a moment before continuing, "if I wanted to hurt you I would have done it a long time ago. It was nearly a fortnight ago when I found you. You were on death's doorstep, there were several times that I thought you were going to die. I've been performing healing spells and giving you potions this whole time. Please, take the potion, it will make you feel better."

Minerva reached towards the vial and grabbed it hesitantly. Her fingers brushed the stranger's finger for the briefest of moments, and it sent a chill down her spine. The stranger hands were as cold as ice. There was a glint in the woman's eyes while she took a step away. Minerva drained the vial in one gulp. The potion was disgusting, but the effect was immediate, Minerva was in a lot less pain than before.

"I know it must be disorienting," the woman started, "to have awoken in a strange place in the presence of someone you don't even know. So let me start. My name is Aralia Ali'Eliah Bal, Master Mage, Former Priestess of Arkay, and Queen of the Northern Isles." The woman smiled and faintly shook her head, "but you may simply call me Ara."

Minerva looked at the woman curiously before whispering, "where am I?"

Ara smiled sympathetically and replied, "North of Solitude on an Island in the Sea of Ghosts."

Minerva crumpled her brow in confusion, never having heard of any such place. Ara could see the confusion written in her expression because she continued, "Solitude is a city in the Province of Skyrim." The continued expression on Minerva's face pushed the woman to continue, "Skyrim is the Northernmost Province in Tamriel," She raised a brow before continuing, "Tamriel is located on the planet Mundus, all a part of Nirn."

Minerva's mouth was agape at this point, not sure if she should believe the woman, it all sounded too strange to be real. 'She's insane, she has to be, there is no way that I am no longer on Earth,' thought Minerva. Then the memory hit her, it was the solstice at Stonehenge. Ancient magic had been surrounding her, manipulating her. "I don't belong here," croaked Minerva.

Ara looked at her with a confused look, "you washed up on the shore of my island after a great storm. Primal magic charged the air that whole night. Out in the sea I was able to see a portal among the waves, quite like those portals that arose during the Oblivion Crisis all those years ago. So where are you from?"

Minerva felt like she had a rock in her throat, "Scotland," she paused to take a shaky breath, "just, not here." The response brought tears to Minerva's eyes. She wasn't even on Earth anymore, somehow the events at Stonehenge had transported her to another plane of existence. She was stuck. She would never again see home.

Ara saw the change in Minerva and drew closer to the edge of the bed. Minerva tensed at the proximity to this woman, something about her made the hair on the back of Minerva's neck stand up. Ara knew that Minerva was nervous with her around, but continued to try to soothe the broken woman. "You were gravely injured and less than half an hour ago regained consciousness. Let's focus on getting you well again before we start thinking about opening a portal." Ara's azure eyes almost seemed to glow with the intensity of her words.

Despite her reassurances, Minerva felt waves of despair wash over her. Minerva had always believed that there were multiple planes of existence, those forged by the consequences of alterations of time such as with Time Turners and the original plane. Yet her mind was having difficulty in understanding that a world separate from the one she knew existed.

Ara watched as Minerva grew pale. It was clear that her guest was deep in thought, she was practically shaking. Ara stepped around Minerva's bed and walked towards the fire, her back turned to the distraught woman. "I will get you home," she stated simply. Ara turned back towards Minerva before continuing, "I know it's a lot to take in, I'll give you some time to process everything that has happened to you. I'll be back later with something for you to eat." With that Ara strode towards the door and left Minerva alone.

Minerva watched the door for a moment before shifting over so she sat on the edge of the bed. The table where the woman had stood upon her awakening was sitting in front of her. It had strange vials and flasks on it, in the middle was a mortar and pestle. Clearly it was for making potions of some form. To the right was a collection of plants and other potions supplies. As Minerva's eyes continued to scan the table her eyes locked on her wand. Minerva felt a faint sense of security touch her heart. Slowly she made her way to her feet. A chill ran down her spine when her bare feet touched the stone floor. She felt incredibly weak, as if her bones were made of gelatin. Yet she quickly covered the distance between her and her wand. A wave of relief washed over her as her fingers brushed the ebony wood. She felt a pulse of magic touch her magic core, the life of her wand evident as she turned it over in her hands. It was a connection to home, having been by her side since she was eleven. She lowered her hand and continued to look around the room that she had awoken in.

Minerva's eye was drawn to the bookcase that covered the wall to her right. She tucked her wand into her sleeve and made her way to the tome-covered wall. Minerva had always loved reading, when she was a student at Hogwarts she had spent much of her time in the library, scouring the shelves. Much like any other bookshelf, this one also held an allure for Minerva. But as soon as she began to look at the titles disappointment hit her like a bludger, the titles were in some strange language that was unlike any other she had ever seen.

"I should have expected that," she muttered to herself.

Yet she couldn't seem to tear herself away from the shelf.

Her eyes continued to scan the worn spines.

One in particular drew her attention. The cover seemed to be worn from frequent readings.

Although she couldn't read it, she still picked it from the shelf and opened the dusty book. Every page that she flipped though had the strange language on it. Just as she was about to close the book a page opened to a picture. Minerva looked at the page closer. It was a picture of a woman who looked much like Ara, but without the scars and about twenty years older. The woman in the picture looked exactly how Minerva would picture royalty. The woman was wearing exquisite robes and a crown and held a staff in her right hand, but the most outstanding part of her was the confidence in her posture and the dangerous look in her eyes.

This woman must be Ara's mother.

The sound of someone clearing their throat jarred Minerva from her musings.

Minerva turned around and drew her wand in reflex.

Ara was standing in the doorway with a tray of food. Ara didn't seem to care that Minerva had her wand pointed in her face.

"I didn't mean to startle you," Ara stated simply.

For some reason Minerva remained frozen in place, her instincts urging her to remain in that position. She didn't trust Ara.

Slowly, Ara placed the tray on the bed and took a solitary step towards Minerva.

Minerva raised her wand by a mere millimeter, but it was enough to make her threat known.

"Do you like reading?" Ara asked quietly.

Minerva saw the sincerity in Ara's eyes and relaxed imperceptibly, but Ara saw it and took another step forward.

Ara gestured to the bookshelf, "this here is my personal collection, I sometimes like to read in my quarters and it would be inconvenient to have to walk all of the way to my library." Ara paused, "You can have some dinner first, then I can take you down there and show you my collection."

Minerva could feel Ara's gaze burning into her. She felt as if Ara could see beyond her eyes and into her soul. As of its own accord, her wand hand slowly fell to her side and her shoulders slumped forward in exhaustion. She slowly made her way forward and sat on the foot of the bed. Ara grabbed the tray of food and sat down next to Minerva with it.

"You need to eat, you're still weak from what happened to you." Ara handed Minerva a piece of bread off the tray she held in her lap.

"I'm sorry," whispered Minerva. "I don't know what overcame me."

"All is fine," replied Ara.

Minerva met Ara's piercing gaze before taking the bread and beginning to nibble on it. Ara stood up and walked over to the bookshelf.

"Do you like reading Minerva?" Ara turned back towards Minerva with a raised eyebrow.

Minerva swallowed the bite of bread that she had taken before replying, "I love reading, but none of your books are in my language."

Ara smiled, "not these books because they are in Daedric, but I have many languages in my library, I'm sure I have something you can read."

"I've never heard of Daedric, it's unlike any other language I have ever seen." Breathed Minerva. She took another bite before continuing, "may I ask you something?"

Ara nodded in confirmation.

"There was a picture of a woman in that book, was she your mother?"

If it weren't for her animagus enhanced senses, Minerva would have missed the slight stiffening of Ara at that question.

"No." Ara replied curtly.

Minerva felt chagrin flood her face, she had touched on some sensitive subject, so she dropped her gaze and began to pick at the beef on her plate. Ara picked up the book in question and with a well-practiced movement opened to the picture. She studied the picture for what seemed like an eternity, but in reality, was no more than five seconds.

"This is a poorly painted picture of me." Ara continued to study the page as she spoke before snapping the book shut and replacing it on the shelf. Ara looked at Minerva before continuing, "if it would be pleasurable to you, once you have finished your food, we can go to my library for a little bit and find something you can read."

Minerva let a faint smile show, she had been to Hell and back today and would love nothing more than to escape in some books this evening. Maybe even learn about this world she had found herself in. "I would love that."


	4. Chapter 4

After their conversation Ara had taken to brewing some potions in what she described as her "Alchemy Lab" while Minerva finished eating. The beef that Ara had brought to eat was amazing and Minerva had finished it rather quickly.

Outside of the small room that Minerva had apparently spent the past two weeks in was a narrow hallway lined with paintings of what she assumed to be past royalty. Ara led her in silence until they reached what appeared to be a banquet hall. The room was enormous with a vaulted ceiling adorned by two large chandeliers lit by candles. There were two tables that extended the length of the room. The floor had a burgundy runner that covered the area between the tables. The walls were lined with tapestries depicting supernatural events and battles, all adorned with gold thread. They were standing on a balcony overlooking the room, which held what appeared to be a throne. On the far end of the room was a double staircase that led up to massive oak doors. Yet the room was dreary and everything within it was covered in dust.

"This is the grand hall," Ara began, "but as you can tell it has been in disuse for some time. I quit throwing balls quite some time ago for they are dreadfully boring events filled with nothing but impotent ramble about politics." Ara sighed.

They continued up another staircase and through many hallways, turning so many times that Minerva was completely lost in this maze of a castle. It rivaled even Hogwarts in size, but unlike Hogwarts this castle seemed dead. Not once did they encounter another person.

Ara stopped at a plain oak door and it opened of its own accord. What was within made Minerva's jaw slacken. There were thousands of books lined on shelves that reached the ceiling. Next to the door was a fireplace with two chairs set around a table in front of it. Minerva could only dream of a collection such as this. There were books that were in pristine condition and others that were so worn and old that it appeared that even touching them would cause them to disintegrate.

"This is my library," Ara smiled, "I have books spanning from modern times all the way back to the Mereithic Era. Not even the College of Winterhold has as many tomes as I."

"Mereithic Era?" Questioned Minerva.

"It was the first era of recorded history, when the Nords of Atmora were the first humans to settle Tamriel. It began in ME 2500 and ended in ME 1. The First Era was 2,920 years long. Followed by the Second Era which was 896 years. The Third Era was 433 years long. We are currently in the Fourth Era. We are in the 201st year of 4E." Ara explained. "My oldest books are approximately 6,450 years old. Of course, I keep those relicts in glass cases and only touch copies of them."

Minerva look at Ara with wonder in her eyes, the entire history of this world was held within these very walls! "May I?" It was barely a whisper but Minerva's inquiry brought a small smile to Ara.

"Yes."

Minerva took off in search of something that she could read and much to her surprise, most of the modern looking books were in fact in English. After both women had selected something of interest they sat down in front of the fire to read. Minerva had selected "Brief History of the Empire" and was intrigued by the history of this region.

Minerva looked up from her page to rest her eyes for a moment and her eyes were drawn to the woman sitting across from her. Ara's brow was furrowed in concentration as she read something in some other language that Minerva had never seen before. As if she could feel her eyes on her, Ara looked up from her page and shut her book.

"I have always found Stronach to be a boring author also," Ara admitted while gesturing to the book in Minerva's hands.

Minerva sat down her book and replied, "it's all very fascinating to me, it seems no matter what universe it is people are all the same."

"What's your world like?" Ara locked eyes with her.

Minerva looked down at her lap and took a deep breath.

"I don't know what to say about it. It's all I've ever known. We are still recovering from a terrible war. Both the Muggle and magic communities were at war within themselves and the cleanup is ongoing." Minerva took another slow breath.

Ara looked at her with understanding. "My world has been shaped by cataclysms, on a slow descent into ruin, all at the whims of the supernatural. It is both beautiful and frightening." Ara looked deep into the fire next to them, "you will see more of my world than you bargained for, once you are completely healed we will begin to gather the materials necessary to get you home. Unfortunately, that means a lot of traveling."


	5. Chapter 5

For the next week things continued much the same. Minerva would spend the day in her room while Ara brought her meals before retiring to the library for the evening. Their conversations never breached anything personal, simply skimming on the physics of creating a portal and brief conversations about their worlds.

Minerva began to feel idle. All of the cuts and bruises had disappeared rapidly thanks to Ara's magic and potions. She wanted to return home now that she felt well.

The castle was dreary and depressing. Minerva had long since figured out that Ara lived in the fortress alone and never ventured outside of its walls. Ara was an enigma to Minerva. Never once had they eaten a meal together, Ara simply stating that she was too busy researching to eat with Minerva. Minerva also noticed that there were no windows in the dark castle.

'Why' seemed to be the only question that filled Minerva's mind through the week.

'Why would a queen live in an empty castle?'

"I dismissed my staff a long time ago."

Ara's blunt answer to Minerva's thought shattered the silence. Minerva dropped the cup of tea she had been holding as she spun around to meet Ara's icy gaze. Minerva hadn't been expecting Ara for another hour and had been browsing the books in her room.

Minerva was frozen in fear. Ara could hear her thoughts. Minerva herself was skilled in legilimency and occlumency. It was impossible for someone to enter her mind without her knowledge, so how had Ara done it.

"Minerva, I have been able to hear the thoughts of others for a long time, and I cannot ignore those thoughts that are about me. Honestly, these days, your thoughts have become quite loud, I can hear you questioning me across the castle." Ara continued to look at the frozen figure of Minerva. "As I stated before, you may ask me questions. The amount of wondering you have done about me this past week has given me a headache." She massaged her temple.

Ara looked at the floor. "I don't want you to think that I have been invading your privacy. I have been trying to ignore your pensive mood." Ara looked up at Minerva with a heartfelt gaze. "I live alone because I was tired of the way I had been in the past. I am no saint Minerva. I have made some mistakes for which I will never forgive myself. I dismissed everyone within my court and shut myself inside my castle so that no other person would have to suffer at my hands. For a long time I have thought myself as nothing but a bringer of evil." Ara took a step back. "Then you showed up. It's as if the gods are testing me. I saved you because I felt like I could finally do something good in my pitiful life."

Minerva couldn't help the words that came out of her mouth, "what did you do?"

Ara turned her back to Minerva. "I was cursed and I lived as my curse demanded… I hurt a lot of people." Her curt and royal tone was trying to mask her cracking voice.

Minerva couldn't explain it, but at that moment she felt no fear, only compassion. She didn't have clean hands either, people had lost their lives during her skirmishes with dark wizards. Of their own accord, Minerva's legs carried her to the shaking form of Ara. She placed her hand on her shoulder in an act of comfort.

"Ara, I work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, my hands are also stained. In my time here you have shown me nothing but kindness. You are doing more for me than anyone else would have." Minerva smiled, "whatever you may have done before doesn't define who you are now, you clearly have a lot of sorrow for what you did. It's in the past, all you can do is move forward."

Ara didn't turn around, but she whispered, "thank you Minerva. One day I may feel brave enough to share with you what I did, but today is not the day."

Ara began to step towards the door. Still, without turning around, she stated, "I'm going to get cleaned up so we can go to Winterhold, we have a long journey ahead of us." And with that, Ara left a shocked Minerva behind.


End file.
